Monday, August 16, 2010

Horoscope Review: Russell Grant's Daily Horoscopes

Whether or not it's a fact that Russell Grant is "the world's most loved astrologer," a tagline which sounds more like an affirmation to me, his detailed and well-written daily advice can be mesmerizing. Grant writes a full paragraph per Sun sign per day. This maximizes the chances that the issues and concerns he mentions will match yours. He doesn't bother to state what the astral conditions are, no doubt realizing that to casual readers, planetary positions and aspects are so much mumbo-jumbo. Instead, Grant broadly interprets astral conditions as they affect each Sun sign, giving not horoscopes but advice that sounds like a proper British next-door neighbor's. The results are so very much on target that I used to consult his site every day, and probably should resume doing that.

Allow me to demonstrate this with an example. I am indeed leaving on a trip tomorrow, but am concerned about its unusual expense. And Grant's Aquarius horoscope for tomorrow begins: "Future holiday plans incur further expenses and you might wonder what you are letting yourself [in] for. If you are travelling with friends, let them know you aren't happy. . ." Coincidence? Who cares? I now have license to tell my friends I can't spend money like it's water.

On RussellGrant.com you can barely find Grant's horoscopes among all the ads for psychics and angels, but I have discovered an alternative and better site for reading Grant's daily forecasts at 12House.com. Less cluttered and more navigable, provided that you know the glyph or symbol for your Sun Sign,, the site 12house.com offers Grant's horoscope for both today and tomorrow. A view of both days can be very useful for thought and planning.

Grant's horoscopes & astrology main page tries to be all things to all people and thus is loaded with fun stuff to look at: women's daily and weekly horoscopes by Carole Somerville, "the most loved" female astrologer; gay and lesbian horoscopes and celebrity profiles by Philip Garcia; video horoscopes; "Zodiac Teen" reports; and even a job-search link (mostly jobs selling ad space, in the U.K. only). Grant clearly knows his readership: women, gays, teens, the curious, the unsettled, the unemployed -- people frequently and for good reason in search of online guidance in this difficult world.

All the astrologers and forecasts hosted on Russell Grant's pages deserve and will get their own reviews. Today I'm reviewing Russell Grant's daily advice, and for usefulness and detail I rate it four and a half stars out of five. The thing I hate about his site: those horrid little Sun-sign-specific animations endlessly looping alongside each sign's daily scope, the Taurus animation being the stupidest.

I have no idea about the politics of being a famous astrologer, but I know competition makes it hard to make money at the job, and few clients will pay what a horoscope is truly worth. A personal horoscope, done by a professional, is a customized work of art and interpretation. It is however much easier to keep forecasts general and vague, and try to make money advertising computer scopes and clairvoyant hotlines. Russell Grant gets points for having classy daily forecasts. You can ignore the rest.